


The Trade

by vaurana



Category: The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 14:27:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21163133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaurana/pseuds/vaurana





	1. Chapter 1

Cordonian ex-president Constantine Rhys hated impunctuality. At best, he considered it a lousy tactic to impress him, at worst, a lack of respect to his name and importance. An insult impossible to forget.  
He was always on time and well prepared, ready to destroy his opponents. More so at this meeting, decisive for his favorite son’s future in politics.  
There was no doubt in his mind that Liam was a great candidate, far more appropriate than his brother would never be, but he needed more funds to finish the race. Without the American money he wouldn’t go too far, and Constantine needed him to be the next Cordonian’s president. Five years had passed since he had lost his power and the emptiness was killing him. Of course, he knew that this wouldn’t be the same, that it was Liam’s time, but he craved power as much as the oxygen he needed be alive.

American Ambassador George O’Briens II made it a point to be late to every meeting he had. He wanted his opponent to be desperate, irritable and weak when he arrived. Then he’d pounced and get exactly what he wanted, taking as much advantage of the man across the table as he could. And this meeting was crucial, not only for him but for his family’s fortune and industries.  
If ex-president Rhys accepted his deal, he would be able to control more than 70% of Cordonian exports, which translated in much more money than he would ever be able to spend. And he loved money more than anything. 

“Constantine, sorry I’m late, I was in a telephonic meeting with the American President, she was very interested in all we had to say here” 

Constantine smiled at the obvious intent to impress him

“Please Ambassador, I know what you’re trying to do, and you don’t need it. It’s all very clear: you need a strong link to Cordonia to be able to control the products America sells to us. And I need a good match for Liam and…”

Albert interrupted him grinning like a Cheshire cat “No Constantine, what you need is money for your son’s campaign”

“Let’s say that I need the money to fund the campaign and the wife to win the race, you can provide me with both, and in exchange…”

“Yes, in exchange you’ll make my daughter a true Cordonian citizen and grant me free access to all Cordonian American trades.

They both shook hands and sealed the fate of their heirs with a glass of 50-year-old Glenfiddich and good Cuban cigar.


	2. The cove

Drake stepped out of the shower and turned on the tv. A towel around his waist, he sat on the edge of the bed and switched the channel.  
“Good night everyone, I’m Anna de Luca and today in Politics weekly, we’re going to talk about the lasts updates on the presidential race with political expert Donnie Brine. Hi Donnie, we’re happy to have you on the show tonight. Tell us, what do you think of our candidates so far?  
“Hi Anna! Happy to be here. Well, we all already know Governor Godfrey Karlington and his conservative politics. He represents the old ways and rules Fydelia with an iron fist. Personally, I think the most interesting candidate today is the young and charismatic Liam Rhys, a new face in the political map, but well ahead in the polls.”  
Drake arched his brows and laughed to himself. New face? Liam was a great candidate, probably the best one, but he was certainly no newcomer.   
“New face?” Ana asked echoing Drake toughts. “Please, Donnie. We all know Liam is the son of ex-president Constantine Rhys and that he comes from old Cordonian nobility. He’s hardly a “new face”. However, I’ll agree that his rapid growth in the public opinion is worth of attention. Now, as a political expert, tell us: Is it true that he intends to surround himself with young politicians?  
“Apparently this is all true, Anna. He’ll form his cabinet with his closest political allies, otherwise known as the “Brat-pack” of Cordonian politics, all being sons and daughters of either rich men and government members as Miss Hanna Lee or old noble houses as Sir Rashad Domvallier.”  
“Can you give us a sneak peak of his cabinet?”  
“Of course, Anna! I’ll give you the name of those we are sure he’ll appoint if he wins:  
For Secretary of Treasury, he’ll appoint Bertrand Beaumont, he was Governor of Ramsford and his family have had ties with the Rhys for hundreds of years.  
In Education he’ll name Hanna Lee. Miss Lee is the youngest person that has ever directed Cordonian University. She has won world recognition for her research in educational methods.  
In Foreign Affairs we’ll have Kiara Castelraillan, the also daughter of the prominent judge Hakim Castelraillan, was our representative in the UN for two consecutive years and speaks 6 languages fluently.  
The Secretary of Defense will be Capitain Olivia Nevrakis, a decorated top army officer.  
Rashad Domvallier will be the head of the Department of Commerce, his bold business deals have brought a lot of money to the most prominent companies in Cordonia  
And for some experience he will appoint Ex Supreme Court Juge Hakim Castelraillan as the Attorney General and Landon Collins as the Minister of Agriculture

“Well, all in all, not a lot of surprises, Donnie. As you said it before, it will be an incredibly young cabinet. Cordonian people should be happy that they’ll have Senator Collins and ex-judge Castelraillan to babysit. Now two questions remain. Do we know who he’ll name as his chief of staff? And, more importantly: Who’s going to be his number two? Do you think he’s going to run with his brother, Valtorian Senator Leo Rhys? Or is that too much nepotism even for Cordonian standards? 

“To answer your first question, rumor has it that he will name his assistant, the man that’s been with him his whole career: Mr. Drake Walker. It is an important position, let’s hope that Mr. Walker is qualified for it, let’s not forget that he is not a real politician. As for the second question, his number two is the big enigma here, Anna. We know that a double Rhys ticket is the ex-president’s dream, but we are also aware of the Senator’s lifestyle, and I don’t think that the public opinion would approve of him running with the young candidate”.   
Drake turned off the TV. Fucking vultures, they would love to see Liam fail if that meant they could feast in his loss. They didn’t care that he was be the best candidate, much more than that fossil Karlington would ever be.  
He opened the curtains and looked through the window, it was a sunny Sunday, his day off. He was wondering what to do when his phone rang. He saw Max’s photo in the screen.   
Preparing for over the top excitement in three, two, one… he picks up the call.

“Draaaaake! You answered!”

“Yes, Maxwell. What do you want?” He sighed “Wait, is Sunday morning so I assume you need me to go get you at the beach because you woke up naked, surrounded by peacocks, with a horrible hangover and no memory of what happened last night, am I right?”  
“Heyyy Drake! Not all parties end up like last week’s party!” Max laughed  
Drake rolled his eyes. “No, you’re right, sometimes you wake up naked in a garden surrounded by pigeons, or with a hippo tattoo you have no recollection getting”   
“Actually, I just wanted to invite you to lunch to thank you for picking me up last week, buddy”   
Drake sighed in exasperation “I’ve told you one hundred times NOT to call me buddy. And a lunch is the minimum you can offer me after I saw you naked. I’m scarred for life, I hope you know”  
“He! You’re just jealous of my attributes, and jealousy is not a good color on you, Drake. You pick me up at 12…ish?   
Drake growled at the phone “I’m starving; I’ll be there at 12 sharp”

When they arrived at the restaurant at 2 pm, it was so crowded the waitress had to sit them at the bar.  
Drake immediately noticed a beautiful girl in the stool next to Max’s, who had stepped outside to take a mysterious call. She was a tall brunette, with huge brown eyes and a beautiful smile. The short red dress she was a wearing uncovered her long legs and hugged her curves in a way that made Drake blush.   
He noticed that she was talking to a guy in a suit who was painfully close to her, when he was about to move on and order another whiskey he heard a vey familiar voice:  
“Sooo, as I was telling you, my family is very rich, they own the Sartorini brand, a very famous, very luxurious, very expensive brand of men shoes, among a lot and I mean a lot of other things, you have heard of my family of course”   
Drake rolled his eyes.   
“Of course,” He heard her answer, and he couldn’t help but noticing a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “The problem… euh…Tariq was it?” Drake was smiling to himself “Is that I have it as a personal rule not to date very smug, very arrogant, very conceited men. It’s a pity really, I can tell we really could’ve hit it off”   
“Are you making fun of me bitch?” Drake was ready to intervene when he heard her answer.   
“Wow, it took you 30 seconds to go from charming prince to creepy pervert, a real record. Now if you excuse me, I’m really hungry. Have a good afternoon.”   
Tariq got closer to her but as he was facing the girl and not him Drake couldn’t see what he was doing. Unfortunately for Tariq, he found out soon enough.  
“I suggest you take off your filthy hand of my thigh right now if you don’t want to end up severely injured!”   
Tariq took a look at her slender figure and laughed “By who? You?”  
“No, me” Drake had decided to intervene “You heard the lady, Tariq. Get out of here right now”. Tariq’s face went white as he apologized.   
“Oh! I’m sorry Drake, I didn’t mean to disturb her, I didn’t know you were with her… I…I... I’m leaving”, he sighed, visibly scared, leaving the bar immediately.   
The girl puffed “Typical creep, he doesn’t even apologize to me, but to the man no one asked help from in the first place”  
Drake arched his brows: “Sorry lady, I know Tariq, and he never would have left you alone. Anyway, have a nice lunch”  
The girl bit her lip feeling guilty, he was only trying to help her after all, and not that it mattered but he was very handsome.  
“No, I’m sorry, you were only trying to be a good person”. She moved to the stool next to him as Max was still talking on the phone. “Let me buy you a…what are you drinking?”   
Maxwell arrived just in time to hear the last sentence: “Whiskey! Is like he doesn’t know any other beverages. Can you believe that he has never tasted a Cosmopolitan??!!” He said grinning. “I’m Maxwell Beaumont, he’s Drake Walker and you’re…”  
“I’m Elena, Elena Ortiz. Nice to meet you both” She smiled, and Drake couldn’t help but noticed what a beautiful smile she had. It felt like she’d be able to light an entire room with it. “And don’t worry Drake, me too I looove whiskey” That time she joined a little wink to the smile and Drake felt like he was actually melting.  
“Hi… Magda” She said reading the waitress name in her uniform “Can you bring us three glasses of Knob Creek, please?”  
Oh my God, I’m really doomed if she knows good whiskey  
“Where are you from? You have a bit of an accent” He heard Maxwell ask her  
“I’m American Maxwell, born and raised in New York”  
“Please, call me Max. Is how all of my friends call me and I can tell right now that you and I are going to be great friends”  
“How long are you staying in Cordonia, Elena?” Drake hoped she couldn’t hear the expectation in his voice.  
“Oh… for now I’m just visiting, I haven’t thought very far ahead”   
“Oh, I would looove to show you the highlights of our beautiful country” Max was smiling with excitement “but I have a date tonight, so I can’t. Drake here, on the other hand, is a free as a bird today, aren’t you Drake?”  
Since he met him as kids Drake had imagined one thousand different ways to kill the ever-annoying Maxwell, but in that moment, he could’ve kissed him.   
“Actually, yes I am. I could show you some spots of the city that aren’t in the guides. What do you say?”  
Elena grinned back at him  
“Maybe… where are you taking me?”  
“You’ll have to trust me Elena, but I’m thinking you’ll like it”  
“Trust you? I’ve known you for like a minute and a half. What if you murder me and hide my body on your baseman forever?  
“Heh, that… or I’ll show one of Cordonian’s most beautiful sights while we drink some good scotch. I guess you’re gonna have to take your chances”  
She looked deeply into his eyes. She didn’t know why she felt so safe around him, maybe it was his gaze, intense and bright; looking at her longingly now   
“Let’s go”  
Drake took Elena to a beautiful beach next to Cordonia city, he showed her a little cove he visited when he needed some time far away from all the politics and plots.   
“Wow Drake! This is beautiful. It makes me think of my favorite spot in New York, I go there whenever I’m feeling that I need some time for myself or to think about something” She sighed pensively “Sometimes life can be too complicated”  
Drake could hardly speak, lost looking at her. The gestures her hands make when she spoke, the elegant curve of her neck, her beautiful smile, and overall those big brown eyes, almost black. They were shinning now, enjoying the view, but there was something else in them, something unreadable…Pain? Regret? 

“Do you feel like that often?”  
“You have no idea, but enough about that. What’s your story?” She gave him a flirty smile that almost made Drake’s heart stop “Do you bring here all your dates?”  
“Ha, good to know this is a date” She blushed, adorably, he smirked and continued “In fact, if you have to know you’re the second person I bring here, and the first one was my sister” He said hoping she didn’t ask a lot of questions about Savannah.   
“Oh, well is an amazing spot, but was promised some excellent scotch and I’m not seeing any” He grinned and took out a little silver flask from his pocket and gave to her  
“You’ll never taste anything better” He watched her take a sip and then lick her lips, it took everything he had not to kiss her, but he didn’t want to scare her, they were alone in a secluded beach after all. “So?”  
“It’s not Knob Creek but is not bad” She moved closer to him, hoping he would make a move, it was her last day of freedom and she really liked him, much more than she should. He was looking directly at her with his chocolate eyes, and a sexy smile in the corner of his mouth.   
“What’s in your mind? You didn’t stop talking all the way here and now you’re very quiet”   
She sighed sadly “I’m not the person I want to be. I can’t”  
“What do you mean you can’t? What old are you like 24? You can do whatever you want Elena”  
She shifted her position to gaze the ocean “25, and no, I can’t. Forget it, you’ll never understand”  
He gave her a small smile, he definitely understood. “You mean that you feel trapped and hopeless in a life that you don’t know how to live anymore but you have no fucking idea how to get out of it?”   
She looked surprised “That’s exactly it. How do you know?”   
He sighed looking at her with a bit of regret in his eyes “I’m in a job that I hate, very far away from the life I pictured for myself when I was a kid”   
She took his hand, feeling an immediate spike of electricity through her arms “If you hate your job that much, can’t you just resign?”  
“I hope it was that easy, but it’s not. My boss is also my best friend and I owe him and his family everything. He’s asked for my help and I can’t deny it… so here we are”   
“Wow, you make it look like the mafia, Drake. Maybe I should be scare” She said teasing him and he smiled  
“Well, actually it’s not that different from the mafia, that I can tell you. But maybe after this job is finished, I’ll be free to do what I want”  
“And that is…?” He could see she was genuinely curious.   
“It seems like a ridiculous child’s dream when I say it out loud, but I love horses and animals in general. I would’ve like to be a veterinarian, instead of going to business school”  
“Well maybe someday… you’re young too, there is no reason you can’t make that happen”  
He took another sip of the flask.  
“Now that you made me spill my guts, you have to tell me something about you. Why do you feel trapped?”  
She also drank before answering. She didn’t want to ruin the mood by confessing the truth.  
“Let’s say that I’m in a middle of a very awful business deal, that I can’t undo”   
He looked at her quizzically. “What the hell does that mean Elena? Now is you who’s talking like a mob family member”  
“He! If only…” She moved even closer to him, boldened by the scotch and the confidences they’d shared. “But that’s enough of sad little secrets”.  
She gave him a very inviting smile and he suddenly realized that she was impossibly close to him. He could smell her scent, delicate and fruity, her black silky hair had a citrusy fragrance, that was inebriating him much more than the scotch he had drank. When he saw her black eyes looking directly at him, he didn’t doubt one more second. He took her face with both his hands and kissed her. She had never been kissed like that, it was sweet and passionate at the same time, there was longing and tenderness, desire and reverence all at once. She could smell his scent, something woody and musky and it drove her crazy. His tongue was entering her mouth looking for hers, delicately at first then more and more passionately, until they had to came out for air. He didn’t need much because almost instantly he was kissing the corners of her mouth, her cheeks, her neck and there he was ravaging her mouth again.

And then the spell was broken. They were brought back to reality by the incessant ringing of her phone.  
“Sorry Drake, I really have to get this” He saw her walking away a few meters and talk to someone, visibly affected by it. Her features hardened, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but she seemed different, sadder, gloomier. He saw she had ended the call but remained in place, so he went to her.   
“What was that about Elena?” He asked softly stroking her left cheek with his thumb. “Are you okay?”  
“Yeah… it’s just that I’m gonna have to go back to real life tomorrow morning, and I don’t want to”  
“I thought you were in Cordonia indefinitely…”  
“It’s complicated. Can you bring me back to the restaurant? A car will pick me up there”  
“I can take you to wherever you’re staying, Elena”  
“I rather not, thank you”  
Drake gave her a sad look. “This is the last time we will see each other. Isn’t it?”  
She could feel the tears. Tears of sadness for everything she’d always wanted but never would have. Tears of joy for the moment she just shared with him as briefed as it was. Tears of regret for leaving him despite all the possibilities that he held.  
“Yes…it’s the last time”


End file.
